Over the past couple weeks, we have been asking current and former NFL players to explain why the position they play was the toughest on the field—mentally, physically, or just all-around. We've surveyed All-Pros and Super Bowl winners from positions as varied as punter and corner to quarterback and coach, and now as we wind down through the final few positions, today we look at the very specific, very lonely job of returner.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

A good return man can give his offense excellent field position and electrify the home crowd. A bad one sets up his team to fail. In 2013, the Minnesota Vikings Cordarrelle Patterson set an NFL record when he returned a kickoff 109 yards. The third-year man believes he can take everything to the house.

The toughest part is getting everyone on the return team on the same page. That's the biggest challenge that you always face. When you get a great return, every guy is on the same page, but usually something doesn't go as planned. There's always one guy who doesn't see the field like the rest of the team. Sometimes that's me as the returner where I don't see the seam. You have to have all 11 guys together to have a great return.

"When your number's called, you gotta go out there and help your team."

As the return team, you always have a plan before the kickoff of what you're going to try to do. But it's always changing. We can have a return set up to go one way, and the kicking team will do a great job of kicking it the other way. That messes up the whole plan. You have to adjust. It's on all 11 guys to do that, but I'm back there like the quarterback.

Getty

When I'm back there, man, every time they kick the ball I want to return it. It doesn't matter where the kick is. Nine [yards] deep in the end zone, four [yards] deep, on the goal line—I want to return it. My mindset is to get a big return, to set up great field position for the offense.

Coach [Mike] Priefer is one of the best special teams coaches in the NFL. He wants to swing hard. He wants me to do my thing. He trusts me. He trusts me a lot. He tells me, "If you feel like going, just go. Don't wait." Sometimes the right thing to do is take a knee, but my mindset is just get it and go. But if we're set up to go left and they kick it way right in the corner, there's no way I can get back over. I should just take a knee. Don't do anything stupid. Last year I did that a couple times. I got tackled on the 10- or the 11-yard line. That's not helping my team out there. I blame myself for that.

It's also difficult because I'm a wide receiver, too. It's always difficult when you're playing two positions. But I take full pride in everything that I do. Sometimes your opportunities are limited. When your number's called, you gotta go out there and help your team.

*This article is part of The Code, an editorial partnership between Esquire and Ford F-150.